Blurring the Lines Between Us
by FaithlessDreamer
Summary: "The one person who could possibly put me back together could just as easily tear me down... leave me broken beyond repair. The world is indeed a cold place." A possible take on the events that follow the end of Season 2 with a Spemily twist. Femslash.
1. Emily

Disclaimer: I regrettably do not own Pretty Little Liars. Not even in box set or digitally. 'tis quite a tragedy.

**Summer Part 1**  
**Emily-**

The heavy heat of the sun beat down upon her deeply tanned skin. A bead of sweat drew its path from her temple down across her angular jaw where is collected before falling to hit her soaked shirt. The noise of heavy-duty machinery could be heard all around. Table saws, nail guns, pressure motors, electric sanders, and not too far off sat a couple of cement trucks waiting on monstrous metal claws to rip away and clear the next plot of land for a fresh laid foundation.

Her lazy gaze traveled the scene before her, taking it all in for what it was. The chaos. The destruction. The rubble. The loud, incessant noise that assaulted her senses coupled with the blistering summer heat. It was the perfect corporal depiction of her metaphysical internal rupture. Twisted metal, still molten hot from the jarring shock of lightning, coiled its way around her heart. Trapping. Suffocating.

The scorching pain use to bring her to shattering sobs and broken tears, but a month later and it was becoming a fleeting numbness. The feeling of empty sorrow crept upon her steadily, showing no signs of retreat. She liked it that way, the numbness. It was completely different from the emotion that brought her here in the first place.

_"Emmy, sweetheart." The baritone voice soothed, over Emily's echoing, panicked gasps for breath. "Breathe. Let it out and breath, Emmy. I'm here now. Shhh."_

_He sat there with his baby girl wrapped tightly in his strong, soldier arms, the front door left open to the cool night breeze that stung her heated flesh. One phone call from his wife, one call to his fellow commanding officer, one call to book an immediate flight and he was there to hold his visibly trembling daughter together in her time of need. One phone call was all it took. No delays, nothing holding him back._

_He returned her strong grip, clutched her tighter against him to help ease the shaking. She was like a lone leaf that refused to release the thick limb of the mighty oak tree it clung too, blown by the stark autumn wind. He was her strength and he held on just as tight. He wouldn't let her blow away with the sweeping wind._

_"Shh, Emmy. Shh." He continued to sooth again and again in time with his slow rocking motion. He placed a loving kiss to the top of her head, tucked into his shoulder, while his large, calloused hands rubbed the tense, sporadically twitching muscles of her back. There was no telling how long they sat there. Even after her sobs subsided, Emily refused to leave her fathers warm embrace. She felt safe, protected in the arms of a warrior. 'A' couldn't touch her here._

_But 'A' got Maya. Maya didn't have a soldier for a father to protect her like Emily did. Neither did Ali. Neither did Spencer. Not Hanna or even little Aria. Maya was… Maya was… she was _gone._ No one was safe from 'A'. She was sick and tired of it. She was sick and tired of being the weakest link even when she tried to be strong._

"_I can't be here." Those were the first words that Wayne Fields heard from his daughter after he arrived home to her falling into his arms. "I can't, daddy. I just… please don't make me?" she pleaded as fresh tears found their way in a slow path down her puffy cheeks, even after she felt all cried out._

"_What do you mean, Emmy Bear?" He gently tilted her chin up so he could look into her heartbroken eyes. With his other hand he tenderly wiped away her tears, the same way he always had._

"_I don't want to be here. I want to be somewhere else. I just can't, daddy." Her voice cracked and she felt like a little girl again, begging for forgiveness in her father's arms. She felt like it was all her fault. She was to blame and she was begging for her father to allow her to run. Run away from all of this. He was the fighter, not Emily. Not even when she tried her hardest._

_Wayne understood. He understood his daughter in a way that even his wife didn't. They shared a strong bond together forged through many years of love and hardship, through years of wars and distance. This was the second time that Emily had lost someone close to her. There were so many memories, good and bad, and she didn't feel safe here any longer. Ali's killer was arrested only 24 hours ago and now Maya's killer was on the loose. It was just too much for her._

"_Do you want to come back to Texas with your mother and me?" She shook her head and returned to lying on his shoulder._

"_No." Even her parents reminded her of Maya, especially her dad. They had more fond memories together than with her mom. He was more open to who she is and what she needed. That's why she waited to tell her dad, not her mom, that she needed out. She just needed to get out of there and Wayne knew it._

_She pulled back a little to see the faint look of uncertainty on his face that was replaced with a sigh of acceptance. "Well, there's this group down in Texas that is sponsoring volunteer efforts in Haiti."_

_He could see her processing this information with interest. An interest in escape or an interest in making a difference, he couldn't tell. Her nod was followed by a call from her mother._

"_Emily!"_

"Emily!"

"Emily!" A voice shouted off to her right. "Hey Fields!" She turned her head to see Andi running toward her with a bottle of fresh water and a large package, presumably her weekly mail. Andi was the volunteer runner for their group in Haiti. Her name was actually Andrea but everyone thought it was too girly for her. She was a feisty little Latina who had maybe 2 inches on Aria.

The job of a runner was to deliver the mail that came in on a plane at the same time once a week to bring news from the states and for families to send stuff to aid the volunteers plus building supplies. Runners also carried messages between the various groups and teams of volunteers through out the numerous construction sites in the region. They helped keep everyone on the same page around here.

She accepted both her package and her cold water with a pained half smile that looked more like a grimace. "Thanks, Andi."

Andi gave her a sympathetic smile and a nod. "You know it's no big deal. Deliveries are my job, ya' know. Also, papi wants to see you whenever you get a free moment. No rush or anything."

"Alright. Let him know I'm almost done with the cement frames then I've got maybe three hours of painting over at Shelby." Andi nodded and took off running again.

The volunteer group Emily was in had the largest number of people with a diverse set of construction and remodeling trades across the board. They had carpenters, flooring installers, cement professionals, painters, electricians, plumbers; they had everything. Because of this, they were in charge of a large residential area so they kept things simple by giving each housing division a name.

Any of the volunteers without a specialty, like Emily, got a schedule each week working two different trades for a few hours each day. This kept Emily pretty busy with learning a little bit of each aspect of construction, but she still found the time to feed her recently acquired bad habit each evening.

The almost mindless work was comforting, therapeutic even. It was better than the week in Texas that she spent nearly catatonic while waiting for the launch date of the massive volunteer project. Her mother became so concerned with her health that she almost didn't let her go but Emily needed it so bad. Towards the end of the week she pulled it together enough to meet the project leader Raimundo Ortiz, his wife Irina who promised Pam that she would watch Emily's health like a hawk, and his daughter Andrea. They were all instantly fond of Emily, especially Andi.

The interior painting was finished with ease and skill, releasing Emily from work to return to her bunk a little early, allowing her the time to open the package that she had received earlier from Andi. It was addressed from her parent's home in Texas just like every other one she had received since she arrived. She looked inside to see some of her favorite candies in a cute little bag with a tag that said "Courtesy of your old roomie. They can't be feeding you anything good out there. – Hanna" with her signature heart doodled at the end in true Hanna fashion.

Below that was a framed sketch of Hanna, Aria, and Spencer together making hearts with their hands and smiling brightly. The note on the back read in Aria's fancy scripted handwriting "So you don't forget the love of your 3 best friends. We'll always be with you Em… through everything." Seeing them again, even in black and white, brought just a little bit of joy to Emily's heart, especially Spencer and her charming smile, before the gnawing guilt kicked in over leaving them all behind to deal with 'A' on their own. She felt guilty for having even the tiniest shred of happiness again when Maya no longer could.

Holding back tears of guilt, she pulled out the last object that was at the bottom of the box under the picture. The legal sized manila folder hinted at something very Spencer inside and Emily slowly opened it, feeling a little flutter of nervousness in her stomach. She looked inside to see several sheets of paper held together neatly by a single staple. The first sheet was a scanned copy of an airline ticket from a couple days ago for a "Spencer Hastings" flying from "Philadelphia, PA to El Paso, TX". She stared at it for a few seconds not believing that it was real. Why would Spencer visit her parents when she knew that Emily was in Haiti? She turned to the next page to see a perfect looking letter written in Spencer's smooth flowing cursive.

_Hey Emmy,_

_If your reading this then it means you are hopefully receiving the care package that the girls and I put together for you to let you know we care about you. We wanted to show you that we know you Em. Which means that we know that you are blaming yourself and feeling guilty for leaving us behind on top of all the pain already in your heart. If Hanna didn't know that you don't have a cell phone in Haiti with you then she would probably call and tell you to quit being stupid._

_I, however, convinced her to let you know she cares in a more acceptable fashion than insulting you. Aria already had something ready for you that she wanted to give you when you came back, but the opportunity to give it to you before that arose. I decided to take a trip down to Texas after talking with your dad on the phone. He told us about the weekly packages that they send you and we wanted to send you something with them to remind you that we care about you and that we aren't blaming you for leaving. We have all wanted to leave at some point since this all began. You just had the courage to go first._

_I have some more important things to tell you and I have to say, you are very hard to get a hold of. Turn to the last page and you'll know where to find me._

_Love always,_

_Spencer_

Wiping away the tears on her cheeks, Emily allowed herself a small sense of guiltless happiness at how well her friends knew her so truly and deeply, especially Spencer, before she turned to the next and last page. Her confusion over Spencer's last words was erased when she saw that it was another scanned plane ticket except this time it was from Texas to Haiti.

The instant she saw the destination typed neatly across the page, Emily remembered her meeting with Raimundo. She froze with a deer in the headlights look before looking over at the clock on her nightstand. She had 15 minutes before she told Andi that she would meet Raimundo Spencer couldn't possibly have flown all the way to Haiti just for her. Spencer couldn't possibly be waiting in Raimundo's office. It just wasn't possible.

Before Emily could register what she was doing, she was already halfway to the main office trailer of their camp with dirt and debris crunching under the soles of her running shoes as she darted around the uneven path leading towards her destination.

**A/N Okay, a few quick points on this chapter, I've been reading so much Spemily that I wanted to write one myself and the chance to write this fic just couldn't be passed up. I normally don't write such lengthy chapters but each chapter is going to highlight a different liars summer so it's a lot to write. Also, I'm just making up what Emily's experience volunteering in a natural disaster area could have been like cause I've never done it myself though I have wanted to. Anyway, feel free to share your thoughts good or bad. I work well with criticism. I also do not have a Beta to mistakes are bound to happen.**


	2. Spencer

**A/N 1 – First I want to say that the chapters are not chronological. Summer part 1 is like a series of parallel timelines for each individual liar. Spencer and Emily's timelines will converge and become one in the near future after Hanna and Aria's chapters. Second, I would like to say that I'd rather not crowd each chapter with replies to reviews unless they are questions or requests; however, I do appreciate all of the positive feedback that I have received.**

**Summer Part 1  
****Spencer-**

The early morning light filtered through Spencer's window and slowly pulled her from her dreams into consciousness. She opened her eyes, blinking away sleep and letting them adjust to the light. She rolled onto her back and stretched with a faint smile on her face, sighing as she heard her spine pop back into place as she sat up. For the first time, in the two weeks it had been since the horrible masquerade gone wrong, Spencer had a full night's sleep without nightmares.

For once, Emily was safe in her dreams. She was no longer being chased or held captive where Spencer couldn't reach her. Hanna was no longer slipping of the edge of a cliff, pulled down by Mona. Aria wasn't wandering alone in the forest like Little Red Riding Hood. No, they were all safe where they should be. Well, not Emily. Emily was thousands of miles away on disaster island, and that didn't quite sit right with Spencer. Now, she was happy that maybe, just maybe, Emily was far enough away that she was free of Mona's schemes.

A part of her always felt the most content when Emily was within her sights to protect. In Spencer's eyes, there was no one who could shield her friends like she could. She might entrust Hanna and Aria to Caleb or Ezra but Emily was hers to watch over. It was part of her Type A personality. As the saying goes, "If you want something done right then you have to do it yourself."

Spencer, ever the suspicious one, had the feeling that there was more to Mona than what she would have you believe. After all, she was a tiny little thing. How could she possibly be able to exert enough force to push Ian off balance? That was one of the few things that Mona supposedly did as 'A' that never meshed in Spencer's complex, calculating mind. She allowed her friends to take their small victory and relax but she was still on high alert. She refused to tell her friends about how the lair where Mona took her, out at the Lost Woods Resort, had been emptied after Mona had already been taken into custody. She justified the near lie to them as being for their own good. They deserved some down time.

Spencer was brought out of her musings on dreams and secrets by the red numbers of her alarm clock reading 8:21. She had about an hour to get ready for brunch at the country club that usually started at 10. It was plenty of time to enjoy a fresh cup of coffee and a hot wake up shower. She rose from between the warm sheets of her bed and walked down to the kitchen to start her day.

She spotted her mother sitting at the counter, already dressed and ready, pouring over case files that were spread out in front of her. "Morning, Mom. Do you ever stop working?" she asked as she poured the coffee that her mother had made, not too long ago, into her favorite ceramic mug that Aria had given her for her birthday last year.

"Oh. Hey, Spence." She responded, finally noticing her daughter's presence. "It's just some notes from an old case. Your father though it might help in landing a new client. He's some new corporate head looking for extra legal insurance. Why aren't you dressed yet?"

Spencer frowned and ignored her mother question. "Your not going to make me play tennis with another client today are you?"

Her mother gave her a look that said it all. "Is that going to be a problem for you? You're going to be there for the family brunch anyway. It's the first Saturday of the month. Remember?"

"Yeah, but I though that maybe just once it was going to actually be about family but I guess it's just business as usual, like it always is. I was so wrong to think that it could ever be anything but that with you." She grabbed her coffee mug and started for the stairs.

"Spence." Veronica called after her. "Spencer!" She called again when her daughter continued to walk away. "You are still expected to be there. You wouldn't want to upset your father."

Spencer had reached the bottom of the steps by the time her mother finished her last remark. She paused and turned to shoot her mother a sneer before she replied, "Of course. I wouldn't want to tarnish the Hastings name like he has, now would I? Tell me, has he heard from Jason lately?" and with that low blow, Spencer was up the stairs to the shower so she could finish getting ready for another fun, drama-filled day with the Hastings family.

Walking across the hall from the steam filled bathroom, Spencer entered her room in nothing but a towel and closed the door. She tossed the towel in her clothesbasket and proceeded to search her closet for something to wear.

Twenty minutes later, she finished slipping on a nice pair of dark blue converse to go with her black slacks and navy button down. She stopped by her closet again to select a fitted black blazer to finish off the ensemble. Since they were ultimately dining with one of her father's potential clients, she forwent adding a tie even though she had the perfect silver and sea foam green plaid tie that would match perfectly.

She stopped off in the kitchen to fill her travel mug with the last of the coffee before she grabbed her car keys off the hook and walked out the back door to her car. Her Mazda CX-9 was one of two cars still in the driveway, the other being that of Melissa's. Spencer figured that her sister caught a ride with one of their parents, so she drove the 35 minutes to the country club enjoying the moment of peace before she had to deal with her family again.

When she pulled up to the front, her phone going off in her blazer pocket startled her. She took it out to see that she had a new text from a blocked number as one of the valets and a friend of hers, Shane, opened her door. "Why if it isn't Princess Hastings. Is it that time of month again?" Shane joked.

Spencer, slightly frozen by the illuminated words and picture attachment on the screen of her phone, gave her a distracted reply. "Uh, yeah. Something like that." When she finally tore her eyes away and looked up at Shane she continued hastily, "Can you tell my parents that something came up and that I'm going to miss brunch? Please Shane?"

The tall dark haired woman sighed but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah. But you know your father isn't going to be happy about this. Remember last time?"

Spencer nodded. "Thank you so much. I owe you again." She gave her a quick hug before sending out a SOS telling Hanna and Aria to meet her at the Grille. Ever since she was 10, Shane had been the valet that always handled their family's cars whenever they went to the country club. The 27 year old was once her only confidant before she met Ali and was adopted into her clique. She knew that Shane would make sure she didn't get into too much trouble.

When she arrived at the Grille she was relieved to see both Hanna and Aria sitting at a table with coffee and Cheese Fries ready for her. It was 10:42 and, since she skipped brunch with her family, she was famished. "So what's with the SOS, Spence? Someone better be dying cause I had to cancel plans with Caleb." Hanna complained before Spencer even had the chance to sit down.

"Wow, Hanna. Way to say hello to one of your best friends." Spencer replied sarcastically before mentally shaking herself to get back on track. "Never mind that. We don't have time to be arguing over petty nonsense. Here." She pulled out her phone, scrolled through some stuff to find the text, and handed it over so Hanna and Aria could see what the big deal was.

_Hey Spence, I have a little surprise for you. –A_

Below the text was an attachment link. Aria moved her shaky thumb to press it. It opened to reveal a dark picture. Despite the lack of any substantial light source, the two girls had no hard time telling whom the picture was of. They could recognize their best friend anywhere. The question was who the other girl was and why did she appear to be taking advantage of an inebriated or otherwise incapacitated Emily?

"Spence." Aria started slowly, with a wide-eyed look. "Why were you the only one to receive this text?"

"Yeah, and who exactly is this new 'A'? Mona's still locked in Radley. They just transferred her there a week ago. Do you think she has mind controlled minions or something?"

**A/N 2 - Bonus points to whoever guesses which real 'A' text that I'm referencing from the show. ;) [Give the season and episode number or the title] Also, don't expect daily updates like this for very long. College classes start up again in about a week and I'm going to be pretty busy but I will try to keep up with updates. **

**On a side note, anyone want to volunteer to Beta this fic? I've never had one before and I sometimes see little errors that I make but not always. Feel free to PM me.**


	3. Hanna

**A/N As requested by a Guest reviewer, I wrote Hanna's chapter next. I know I said that they weren't going to be chronological to start with, but it just made sense, to me, to write this chapter as a follow up to Spencer's chapter. I couldn't think of a good start up otherwise. My apologies.**

**Summer Part 1-  
Hanna**

* * *

Night descended upon the quiet streets of residential Rosewood, Pennsylvania. It was the night of a new moon, leaving street lamps and porch lights as the sole illuminators of the inky darkness. The weighty clouds off on the horizon told of a foreboding midnight storm. The building wind steadily banished the last vestiges of the warm, sunny weather that greeted the residents of Rosewood just that morning. It was almost a telltale sign to the liars that their few moments of a blissfully cleansing summer were drawing to a close, bringing only darkness and despair.

The three liars parted ways earlier that afternoon with the agreement to meet the following day so they could devise a plan to reach out to Emily. Hanna knew that Emily needed her space, but it had been made more than apparent that what she might need more was rescuing from herself, most specifically. Emily didn't seem as all right as she continually tried to reassure her best friends that she was; at the airport, when she flew back to Texas with her parents, and again when she called to tell them she was leaving for Haiti, she was nothing but convincing. Her façade was impeccable.

They were the fools, Hanna, Aria, and Spencer. They were the fools to believe that Emily was in the right frame of mind to be making such big decisions. Her parents were even more foolish to let her; however, it was mutually understood by all of them that they all had the same thing in mind. They all wanted to believe, deep down, that Emily could come back from this, that if they gave Emily enough of what she wanted, that she would come back to them better than she left.

Hanna just happened to be the first one to shred that hope and see things as they really were. She knew that, out of all of them, it was probably Spencer who knew Emily best, but Hanna was also the one who lived with Emily at one point; she was able to pick up on a few of Emily's emotional quirks. Not to mention, she had a small inkling, in the back of her mind, that Spencer knew the same things that she did but her judgment was clouded. Hanna also had her suspicions as to why that was but, despite her brash nature and habit to call a duck a duck, she wasn't about to call Spencer out on it. She knew her best friend well enough to know that doing so would get them nowhere and only send Spencer on a backwards spiral from any progress she had already made, on her own, to accept her feelings.

It was one thing when Emily chose to go home to Texas with her parents, but it was a completely different thing when she basically skipped town to volunteer on an island country where she knew no one close enough to her with enough power to just tell her 'no' or 'stop'. Which was definitely what she needed to hear, in Hanna's opinion. There was running away to escape, and then there was running away in order to self-destruct away from anything familiar.

Hanna knew all too well about self-destruction. Ali's words still rang incessantly in her ears from time to time, beating and tearing her down. The taunts and teases about her weight, as well as how Ali 'helped' her lose it, continued to haunt her. Ali was supposed to be one of her friends; how was she supposed to know that what Ali told her to do was wrong and that it would leave her with dozens of emotional scars that could easily be triggered and torn open at even the slightest slip of the tongue from an unknowing stranger?

Hanna's pain wasn't entirely comparable to Emily's but she understood the behavior: the flight symptom that made her believe that the only way out was to run, to hide. The only difference was that Emily was hiding from the memories, whereas Hanna had tried to hide from herself. She'd tried to hide from the monster with Ali's voice that was inside her head telling her what she needed to do. She wasn't proud of it, but she was almost grateful for her knowledge. If that was what provided the key to getting their Emily back then she could stomach a little bit of gratitude for having suffered Ali's tormenting.

Besides, since Caleb came into her life, she was becoming more and more accepting of herself physically. Even Mona had helped a little, but she didn't want to dwell on that chapter. She even added "cooking classes with Caleb" to her summer "to-do" list. Hanna was determined to learn how to cook delicious food and enjoy eating it with the one person she loved more than anything. Caleb wanted her, and that was enough for her to be able to put most of her history with Ali out of her mind. It didn't mean that she was going to resort back to binge eating an entire pie when she was upset, but she was going to enjoy tasting her food only once.

Hanna was pulled from her dark, window-staring musing by her phone ringing. Her smile grew wider when she saw Caleb's name and picture light up the screen.

"Hello?" She answered giddily.

On the other end, Caleb could hear the happiness in Hanna's voice with just that one word. _"I just so happen to have remembered a certain someone being afraid of storms."_ He responded teasingly._ "I thought that if you were home alone then maybe I could stop by and make you some dinner but, from your tone, it seems like you're ready to sit this one out on your own, Marin."_

"What!? No!" Hanna responded, near hysterically, when Caleb laughed and continued.

_"Relax. I was just joking. Why don't you go downstairs and open the front door?"_

"What do you mean open the front door? You want me to get swept away by the hundred miles per hour wind storm out there?" Hanna replied incredulously,

_"No, stop exaggerating,"_ Caleb replied hurriedly,_ "But I sure as hell don't want to be blown away either."_

Hanna gave her window a suspicious look when she picked up on a strange background noise coming from Caleb's end, before running down the stairs to open the door. On the other side stood Caleb, with two large bags of groceries in his hands and a Bluetooth headset in his ear. Hanna hung up the phone with a surprised smile and stepped to the side to allow Caleb inside. Once she shut and secured the door, she followed Caleb into the kitchen where she threw herself into his, now empty, arms with a happy noise.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." She paused to give him a loving kiss for his efforts, "This crappy weather was sending me down depression central. I couldn't stop thinking all these dark, emotional thoughts, but now you're here to distract me." She gave him another, deeper, kiss.

He smiled down at her when she pulled away. "I'm glad. Depressing thoughts aren't good for you; however, I do so believe that this," he started pulling ingredient's out of the bag, "Just might be more of what you're looking for." When he finished pulling everything out, he gave Hanna a few minutes to look over everything before he supplied the answer to the question in her eyes. "You and I are making _Paella de Marisco_. It's a nice summer dish from Spain. It's basically seafood with rice. It's not exactly rainy day food, but I could barely afford the fresh seafood with Spencer's help, so a Mediterranean beach trip is out of the question."

"Oh, Caleb. You know that I don't care about flying to the Mediterranean. You just brought the Mediterranean to me." She smiled and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Thank you for all of this and for going to Spencer. She is definitely the number one seafood specialist on my list, other than our cooking teacher. That girl has eaten expensive French and Italian cuisine since she was three."

Caleb gave her an indulgent laugh. "Now that, I believe. Speaking of trips to the Mediterranean, I got that documentary you wanted to watch on Mediterranean Cuisine." He went back to one of the brown sacks to retrieve a couple of things. Turning around, he revealed a DVD. "And for dessert," he showed Hanna what was behind his back. "_Helado_. Which is very expensive, authentic Spanish ice cream made with honey and some eccentric cheese, also courtesy of the ingenious Spencer Hastings' fund. She recommended dipping _churros_ in it."

Hanna gave Caleb the classic Hanna Marin eye roll before she smiled and gave him a playful shove. "Shut up, Rivers." With that, they separated and Caleb went to find the recipe on his laptop so they could get down to cooking.

* * *

Later that evening, when the storm started to set into motion full-force, Ashley Marin walked through the front door. In the seconds that it took her to walk from her car to the door, she was drenched by the pouring rain and rather closely resembled a drowned rat.

"Hanna?" She called into the dark and seemingly empty house. She discarded her purse, jacket, and shoes before walking into the living room where the flicker of the TV could be seen dancing across the wall. The main menu to The Notebook was on repeat and one glance at the couch showed Hanna lying on top of Caleb with a fuzzy blanket covering the two.

Ashley gave a slight smile at the scene before she set about cleaning up the popcorn and snack mess. The little echo of rustling packages woke Caleb, who blinked rapidly to adjust his sleepy vision that focused on the silhouette of Hanna's mom against the bright TV. "Ms. Marin?" He asked sleepily.

She turned to see Caleb rubbing sleep from his eyes and Hanna shifting in her sleep at his movements. "Caleb. I'm sorry if I woke you. I was just trying to clean up a little bit of this mess before getting ready for bed myself."

"Here, let me help you." He went to move out from underneath Hanna but Ashley stopped him.

"No, but thank you, Caleb. The storm has really picked up out there." Her whisper was punctuated by a flash of lightning followed by a clap of thunder that accompanied the steady rhythm of rain against the roof and glass. "You're welcome to stay since the weather is so bad and I really think it's best if you try not to move too much. Hanna never gets much sleep when it's storming outside. She looks so relaxed and at peace. I would hate to wake her."

"Thank you Ms. Marin."

"It's not a problem, Caleb. And please, call me Ashley."

She gathered the last of the dishes, switched off the TV, and proceeded to the kitchen to put everything away. She found a dish in the fridge with a sticky note attached. "Caleb and I made Spanish food for dinner. We saved some for you and dessert is in the freezer –Hanna". Ashley smiled at her daughter's tendency to doodle all over the notes she left her. She put the container back in the fridge and decided to get out of her wet clothes and take a hot shower before reheating her dinner; Hanna always knew how to make her feel like the luckiest mom to have such a thoughtful daughter who took care of her, even when she was spending time with her boyfriend.

Hanna woke the next morning to something warm pressed against her back. She opened her eyes just enough to see her living room in front of her. She turned to see the brown mess of Caleb's hair covering his face. She pushed some of it away with a smile and gave him a chaste kiss. His eyes fluttered open to reveal pools of warm hazel. "Good morning." Hanna said, watching him stretch.

"Hmmm. Morning. How did you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well, considering the weather. The only other time I've slept that good through a storm was a while ago when I slept over at Emily's."

"Emily? Is there something you need to tell me Hanna?" Caleb joked.

"What? No!" She picked up one of the throw pillows and hit him with it playfully.

"Hey. I was only kidding. So, what's for breakfast?"

"Oh shit. I totally forgot that I told Spencer and Aria that I would meet them for breakfast over at Spencer's. What time is it?"

"Just after nine. What time do you have to be there?"

"Spencer said ten but in Spencer world that means, like, eight or something."

"I'm sorry. She didn't mention anything when we talked yesterday while shopping for ingredients."

"Okay. Number one, it's not your fault. Number two, you talking like your best friends with one of my best friends is kind of creepy. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that you get along with my friends but it's just… weird, you and Spencer. It just seems so wrong to imagine you as friends."

"What's so wrong about it?"

"You're just so laid back and you know the meaning of the word 'relax'. Spence has always been uptight and, of all the big words she has stuffed into her Hastings brain, I doubt she's ever heard of relaxing. Anyway, I need to go get ready. I'll give you a ride back to Lucas's since it's on the way to Spencer's."

That said, she gave Caleb another chaste kiss before she went upstairs to check on her mom and shower.


	4. Aria

**Spinoza-off:** I've never had helado con churros before either, but I thought it might taste good so I went with it. Haha. Just a heads up, but Aria is going to delve even deeper into the Spemily relationship since she strikes me as the quiet, observing one who sees all of the finer details behind how her friends work with one another.

**Shayforever:** I suspect that it should be roughly about Chapter 6 where we get back to Emily. Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how Chapter 5 turns out. I hope you don't mind a short wait. I'll try to work as fast as I can while still preserving the quality of my writing. Time limits, after all, are not an excuse for sloppy writing.

**Summer Part 1 –****  
****Aria**

The storm from the previous night had left Rosewood with an overcast sky and a high level of humidity. Aria practically felt tiny drops of water caress her skin as if she were walking through a not-quite-there mist; she had to admit that the weather in Rosewood had the propensity to reflect what she was feeling inside. She pulled her vibrant trench coat tighter around her and continued on the walk to Spencer's house.

Her dad had offered to drive her, as he was driving into town to go grocery shopping anyway, but she declined citing that she wanted the time alone to think a little on the inspiration that she drew from the bleak weather. It wasn't entirely untrue. What artist or writer has never found inspiration in the darkest of things that have often caused people to question their sanity? True, she did tend to lean more towards finding inspiration in the things that brought joy to her life but, on occasions such as these, when she found her life plagued with uncertainty, she was more inclined towards the austere. Maybe that was why she always found Spencer's company so fundamentally inspiring to her work.

Her serious posture, direct and always controlled, pervaded any room she was in with the air of her confident right to be in charge. With just simple body language, she could bring anyone to his or her knees. It couldn't be classified as a Hastings trait either. It was just something uniquely Spencer. The Hastings commanded respect of anyone they thought beneath them, but it was merely handed to Spencer. The true beauty of Spencer was that, even though she struck fear into people with her avid determination, she was still fragile.

She was like ice, solid structured and strong. She always followed through and gave her best to achieve her goal. She protected what was hers with an icy determination. She froze people in their tracks and brought awe to the hearts of those who gazed upon her calm, cool, and collected beauty. But even ice could shatter. It had its weaknesses. Nothing was ever truly perfect and without flaw, even if she could make even the most stubborn person believe that she was.

Her weakness was fire. Emily was fire. There was once a time that Aria thought that Emily might be water because of her swimming and her affinity for the element, but she saw the way that she practically melted Spencer when she walked into the same room as her. Aria could remember how Emily went into each swim meet with a fiery passion for the sport and the determination to win that she could rival even the hottest inferno. She struck fear into her competition, but in a different way than Spencer. Emily looked innocent on the outside but even the most insensitive person could feel the energy pouring off of her. She drew that energy in and centered it before every dive.

In a way, they were perfect for each other, but they could also tear each other apart all the same. They could be the ultimate power couple or the most intensely feared rivals. Emily won by centering herself and putting all of her effort into making herself the best; she was Zen. Spencer strove for victory by freezing everyone out and dominating her opponent mentally with completely accurate calculation and analysis. They were wolves, Alpha and Beta, but no less equals.

Back when they had community service, it made sense to Aria that they were the ones that pretended so convincingly to be at each other's throats. They just carried that weight and potential in their relationship. That was what worried Aria the most. The picture that Spencer showed them at the Grille, of Emily with another girl in Haiti, could either make or break them. It could make Spencer step up and reach out to Emily by admitting her feelings, and maybe even help heal Emily's scars. It could also send Spencer into a manic rage and make her lash out at Emily, most likely leaving even more raw scars in her wake.

Aria was extracted from her deep contemplations by the realization that she was standing on the Hastings' back porch. Before she could ponder how long she had been standing there, the door was opened to reveal Spencer, still in her pajamas.

"Were you just going to stand there, snowman, or were you going to knock at any point, even though you know that you're always welcome here?" Spencer's teasing voice rang clearly in her ears and finished bringing her out of her reverie.

"What did I tell you about calling me snowman, Spence?" Aria scolded playfully.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you reminded me of that one winter where I found you sitting on my porch, covered in snow, because you were waiting to go to school with me and you didn't get the memo that it was a snow day."

"Hey! In my defense, I waited on you cause I knew that you would never miss school unless you absolutely had to. I was worried and the door was locked."

"Oh, that's right. That was the day that I finally decided to show you all where my parents hide the key. I felt so terrible because you ended up with a bad flu virus."

By that point in their conversation, Spencer had led Aria into the kitchen and they were exchanging memories over coffee while they waited for Hanna. Aria had gotten there early, so she wasn't expecting to see Hanna for a while yet. It was only nine, after all, and Hanna didn't usually get out of bed until ten unless she had school or there was a sale at the mall. She enjoyed the one on one time with Spencer, and it helped put her at ease that Spencer wasn't wearing a path into the floor with her obsessive pacing; it meant that she was taking the news of the 'A' picture in a way that would hopefully help Emily and not hinder her.

She was genuinely proud of her. Aria was worried that she would have to come and be Spencer's voice of reason and talk her down from doing something stupid that would hurt her friendship with Emily. Aria cared about all of her friends too much to see their relationships with each other take any more blows from 'A's meddling.

"Hey Ar," Spencer started as she glanced at the clock. "I think I'm going to go shower now. If Hanna miraculously shows up on time, tell her I'll be down soon."

"Not a problem."

With a quick hug and a "Thank you", Spencer took off up the stairs leaving Aria to content herself with another cup of coffee as she continued to puzzle over her earlier Spencer/Emily dynamic that she never finished on her walk.

Reflecting back on Spencer and Emily as individuals again, Aria applied one of her favorite Robert Frost poems, _Fire and Ice_, since it seemed to suit them so well. Desire and fire always closely relate, both phonetically and when in the context of discussing passion, love, or even lust. It made sense, for fire to be the preferred ultimate death, but the world's destruction by fire could be paralleled with Emily's relationships falling to pieces and ending with Emily being severely burned by complete and utter devastation.

Ice is likened to hatred because it is one of the coldest emotions; it can only be achieved at its fullest with total detachment from warmth or caring. Spencer's habit of freezing everyone out and relentlessly holding onto grudges was what fed Spencer's hatred and it wreaked havoc on the terrified souls around her. She brought destruction with her wherever she went and struck to the very core with zero subtly or warning, it was an ice-spike driven through the heart out of nowhere. If she wanted to bring someone down, then she would do it with an aim as swift and true as a wolf's strike to the jugular. She was vicious, and this new 'A' was lucky to still be anonymous.

Then it occurred to Aria that Spencer and Emily could potentially cancel each other out. There was once a time that Emily yielded to Spencer just like everybody else, but that was before the dynamics of the liars' relationships, with each other, had changed. Emily decided to step up against her penchant to be the weakest-link because of her overwhelmingly emotional personality. Emily started being targeted and even faced-off with 'A'. Aria could see something in Spencer change; she became more protective of them, but more so Emily. Their elements didn't remain separate anymore; instead, they clashed for the first time without stops. For a while, they stood on the same footing and led the 'A' attack as well as most of the major detective work. They strengthened and fed off of one another's ambient energy in a sort of symbiotic relationship founded on revenge. They brought their little group out on top against 'A'; that is, until Maya was found.

They could all visibly see Emily lose all of the strength that she had gained; in that split second, Spencer became the only thing holding her up and holding her together. They were, in essence, exactly what the other lacked, but ultimately needed. If they built a relationship together, could Spencer negate the destruction that Emily's powerful emotions brought upon her relationships? Could Emily melt the fortified, spiked wall of ice that Spencer shrouded herself in to keep people away? If they could, would even the slightest tip of the power scale drive them apart and force Hanna and Aria to choose between their best friends?

Aria shook the disheartening and uncertain thoughts from her mind with a menacing glare out the window to the still dreary weather. Her thoughts were beginning to dance circles and form endlessly complicated knots that made her head spin. The conclusion that she drew from the mess inside of her was that it all depended on Spencer and Emily. No outside force could interfere in such an unstable crossing of elements.

**A/N I find it easier to characterize and observe Spencer and Emily's relationship through the eyes of their friends, so I apologies if anyone is a fan of either Hanna or Aria and wanted chapters solely about them. All I can say is that this is ultimately a Spemily fic and it centers on them more so than the other characters.**


End file.
